APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz. (KSAZ) - First responders have rescued four people who were stranded overnight on the Superstition Mountains.

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office says they requested an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter on Tuesday night to help search for an elderly man. The group was hiking the Superstition Mountains Tuesday, but two of them were too exhausted to continue.

Authorities found the man but couldn't conduct a hoist rescue because there was no daylight, so they sent down a paramedic to help the man.

The rescue operation was resumed Wednesday morning and the elderly man, paramedic and two other hikers were extracted from the Superstition Mountains. Sheriff's officials say it uses volunteers for most of its search and rescue efforts, and decided it was safer to wait for daylight before an airlift is done.

The volunteers stayed the night with the stranded hikers, and deputies said the decision is not uncommon.